BLOG 2: VALPARAISO THE JOURNEY

After many hours spent with travel agents we finally found a (somewhat) affordable way to get to Chile in order to visit Jose and Nicolle (Ossi’s friends) and see their fabulous new café and home in Valparaiso (a coastal city west of Santiago). The trip from Rio to Santiago became a bit more of an adventure when suddenly, within moments of booking our tickets, Jose and Nicolle seemed to vanish into the ether. Emails and phone calls went unanswered. This would not have been a worry except for the fact that the cheapest tickets we could find had us leaving the next day. So, we decided to wing it, and find our way to the café, via plane, bus, bus, and ascensor. (see Blog 3 for pic of ascensor)

Once airborne our minimal understanding of Portuguese informed us that we were in fact flying to Sao Paulo (though our tickets said nothing of the kind) where we had to de-plane, and were sent to baggage, only to be sent back to where we had deplaned, to then be sent to a different gate and terminal, where the plane to Santiago was on its last call. After an invigorating sprint through the airport, we caught the plane to Santiago- or at least, we hoped, given that the destination was pronounced : Shan-TEH-go. However, all anxieties were instantaneously lifted when about 30 minutes outside of landing we heard the pilot say something about “the Andes”… So, we leaned over, and looked out the window.



There really are no words to describe the surreal vision of being eye level with some of the highest points on earth. Jagged peaks rose from pure white to slash a crystal blue sky- the vista stretched on for eternity. It was breathtaking and the entire plane fell silent, with everyone straining to look out either side to glimpse this awesome natural beauty.




We think the photos speak for themselves, especially given they are taken through a plane window. We can only imagine what it must be like to witness these mountains from the ground.

Once we hit the ground, the adventure continued. We headed straight to the internet, really expecting to find an email from our soon-to-be hosts, with directions. But, there was nothing. Silence and empty inboxes.

So, we ate.

And then hopped a bus to the city bus station, and then another bus to Valparaiso- crossing THROUGH some lovely mountains at sunset. Once in Valparaiso, we made our way to a great little hostel that Os found on the internet: Hostel Caracol = The Snail. This is the nickname for a backpacker in Chile.



The hostel was a beautiful old building with tiled floors and carved ceilings, but pretty chilly. We holed up in the living room, huddled around a space heater, and relaxed into an evening of movie watching and conversation with fellow travelers. A good 11 hour sleep found us bright eyed and bushy tailed for the mornings’ excursion to find Epif Café where we hoped Jose and Nicolle would be.